The Game Awards is always pretty good fun for us fans of the medium, with appearances from The Muppets and other beloved figures lightening the tone to make it very different from a normal awards show.
One of the main reasons we are all there though is to get a look at upcoming releases and reveals for brand new games, with the show always chock full of exciting games that are usually on the way in pretty short order.
This time around was no different, and there were plenty of exciting successes along the way, as we barrelled towards the coveted award of the night, to see who would be crowned as Game of the Year.
Unfortunately, all of that momentum was stopped in its track by the final reveal of the night in Highguard, which Jeff had built up significantly, and which really failed to live up to the expectations of the audience.
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It has since emerged that was no fault of the developer, with the game placed as the big final reveal by show organisers, with many fans expecting it to be from one of gamings more established franchises.
That reception immediately led to comparisons with one of gaming's biggest failures, and with launch just around the corner, the negative comparisons have already begun to take hold.
The Concord and Highguard Comparisons Have Begun
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Over on Reddit, one user shared a post comparing the disastrous launch of Concord with the pending release of Highguard, which is set to launch on 26 January.
There are some legitimate concerns in there, but many in the comments felt that Highguard is much more a potential victim of circumstances, rather than major faults of its own. At the same time, the fact that it's yet another hero shooter really isn't doing anything to get fans excited.
"Highguard is mainly suffering because Concord came first. I don't think people would be dunking on it as much if Concord didn't just Concord last year, but if I had to guess I think people didn't like the VGAs closing out on this game," one comment read
"I think Highguard specifically had a very unlucky reveal, being right at the end of TGA. If it was revealed at some point in the middle of the show it probably wouldn't have the hatred it gets," another added.
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A third added, "Awful art direction. I ignored Highguard because I don't care about hero shooters and it looks bland but the gameplay looks pretty good tbh."
"Concord's designs were simply awful and the gameplay looked extremely boring."
In any case, let's hope the game turns out to be brilliant and popular when it comes out next week, because there are a lot of people who worked on it that need it to be a success.
With so many games being cancelled or pulled from stores, it would be nice if we could buck the trend here.
Topics: The Game Awards